Arrival of partner with extensive contentious regulatory and government investigations experience in Asia further bolsters global capabilities.

January 15, 2018

Latham & Watkins is pleased to announce Catherine McBride has joined the firm as a contentious regulatory partner in the Hong Kong office and will be a member of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice and the Financial Institutions Group. Ms. McBride is one of the most experienced contentious regulatory practitioners in Asia, and she brings expertise, insight, and solution-focused, practical advice to banking, private equity, and corporate clients in the region. She has many years of experience handling contentious matters, including regulatory proceedings, regulatory and criminal investigations, and civil claims across Asia Pacific. Most recently she served as Associate General Counsel, Head of Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement for North Asia-Pacific at Deutsche Bank based in Hong Kong.

Ms. McBride has handled a wide range of matters before a full spectrum of regulatory authorities, including the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). She has substantial experience handling regulatory, governmental, and internal investigations as well as a number of civil claims in Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Ms. McBride also held senior roles at KPMG and Ernst & Young, in China and the UK respectively, in which she gained significant experience handling complex commercial, regulatory, and litigation matters. In addition, she has 10 years of litigation experience at a Magic Circle law firm where she advised on a wide variety of contentious cross-border matters.

Cathy Palmer, who serves as Chair of the Litigation & Trial Department in Asia, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Catherine to the team. She joins a group of highly experienced contentious regulatory and government investigations litigators in the region and globally. As the consummate professional — a battle-tested, poised and determined advocate — she bolsters our capability in the Hong Kong contentious regulatory space and complex commercial litigation arenas. Her judgment, experience, and drive will be a great asset to our clients and a key part of our unique and developing global regulatory platform.”

Josef Athanas, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Hong Kong, added: “We are committed to further developing our litigation and regulatory practice in Hong Kong. Catherine has deep knowledge of the numerous regulatory players in Hong Kong and across the region and her years in the trenches have given her first-hand experience advising on a range of critical issues. Adding a contentious regulatory practitioner of her formidable intellect and standing continues our forward momentum.”

“We’ve been adding tremendous talent to our litigation practice around the world, and Catherine is further testament to our growth,” added Jamie Wine, Global Chair of the Litigation & Trial Department. “Financial regulatory bodies continue to adopt increasingly aggressive enforcement practices. With Catherine’s arrival we have the ability to provide extraordinarily deep contentious regulatory advice as well as Hong Kong, US, and English commercial law advice to our bank, private equity, and corporate clients.”

“A few years ago, we set out to build the leading financial regulatory platform globally, centered in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Catherine, together with Simon Hawkins who joined us last year in the non-contentious regulatory space, will play a major role in the growth and success of our global financial institutions regulatory practice in Asia and globally. Catherine has an outstanding reputation handling tough, complex commercial and enforcement matters and she brings a unique skill set to the team,” commented Witold Balaban, Global Co-chair of Latham’s Financial Institutions Group and Capital Markets Practice.

Ms. McBride’s arrival follows a number of experienced litigators joining the firm in the last two years, including: Hui Xu in Shanghai who advises clients on complex, cross-border government investigations and litigation matters in Asia; Leslie Caldwell in San Francisco who most recently served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the US Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and is a nationally renowned white collar lawyer who advises clients on corporate criminal, fraud, and foreign bribery matters; and Nicholas McQuaid in New York who was Deputy Counsel to President Barack Obama in the White House Counsel’s Office and previously a prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, among others.

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with more than 2,600 lawyers in its offices located in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, including: Barcelona, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the website at www.lw.com.

Notes to Editors

Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in France, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan. Latham & Watkins operates in South Korea as a Foreign Legal Consultant Office. Latham & Watkins practices in cooperation with the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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